Christmas Cards for Operation Write Home





I thought I would share some Christmas cards I've put together for my upcoming OWH card party.  These are the sample cards for the kits I've prepared...there will be a total of 15 of each card after they are assembled.

I love the simplicity and clean lines of the first card.  If you can't see all the colors in the paper, there is pink, burgundy and several different shades of green.  This card is really flat, which is good for mailing.



The next four cards all use the same "sketch".  I saw this sketch on someone's blog (I'm so bad at keeping track of that stuff) and on her version of the sketch, she used the same stamp I have!  So of course, I just had to CASE it!  The original design had some stitching on it, but I kept it clean and simple for the OWH card party.  This card is also really flat.

"Noel" with a Colonial White card base.  All paper, ink and stamps are CTMH.  The patterened paper is from the Mistletoe paper line.  Colors featured are Cranberry & New England Ivy.





"Noel" with a kraft card base.  The stamp and Colonial White paper is CTMH, the kraft card base is Papertrey Ink and the patterned paper and blue cardstock is DCWV.  I used Lagoon for the ink color.

"Noel" with a green card base.  All paper is DCWV except the card base, I'm not sure where I picked that up from.  The stamp is CTMH & I used Vineyard Berry ink.



"Noel" with a grey card base.  All paper is DCWV excep the card base, I'm not sure where I picked that up from.  The stamp is CTMH & I used Watermelon ink.



I have a few more Christmas cards I'm working on and several more designs I'm trying to figure out. I hope to post many more before our Card Party on September 17th! 

Some Completed Pinwheels!

I have some finished Pinwheel cards to post today...sorry, the pictures are a little blurry, but they were taken w/out the flash and I guess my hand is just not very steady!

Card #1-3 have patterned paper from Basic Grey (Lime Rickey) and the solid cardstock is from DCWV. 

 

Card #4 is made with papers from the Sophia paper pack by Close To My Heart.



All four card background are embossed using the cuttlebug and I left the insides blank...for now.  I like to wait until I know who I'm sending them to before I put anything on the inside.

I plan to make a bunch of these for Operation Write Home...many kits are in the works! :)

Some things I've worked on lately...

I'll admit, I'm still not very good with keeping up with my blog.  That does not mean that I'm not crafting!  I've actually been pretty busy in my scrap room the past couple of weeks.  I don't know about you, but I find it very therapuetic.

This first card is a birthday card I made for a co-worker.  I'm not sure what company makes that paper, but the green dot paper is the backside of the hat paper.  I used CTMH stamps for the focal point and the brads are from my stash.  The card base is CTMH cardstock in "Moonstruck".

The next 3 pictures are of another birthday card I made for a co-worker.  I used paper from CTMH's Topstitch papers.  I also used ric rac in blush.  I embossed the blush piece of paper with a cuttlebug folder and highlighted some of the detail with itty bitty sparkles.

This stamp on the inside is from PaperTrey Ink.  I love their signature series stamps!

My recent OBSESSION are pinwheels.  I love making them, I love how simple they are and I love how simple and clean the cards turn out.  I have some finished cards I'll post soon...but here are some of the pinwheels finished, just waiting for a card to be attached to!  There are a variety of papers used here...Basic Grey (Lime Rickey & another one I'm not sure of the paper line), CTMH, DCWV.  For the centers we used big brads, paper flowers or buttons w/floss.

This is a card that my sister finished with a pinwheel I had made a little while ago.  The pinwheel paper is from the Sweetheart paper pack from CTMH.  She scalloped the bottom edge of the card with a Fiskars edge punch.

The next card is yet another birthday card for a co-worker.  The papers used are from the Fanfare paper pack from CTMH.  The party hat is shadowed with glitter paper from DCWV.  I used a cuttlebug embossing folder and then inked over it.  This is a 5x7 card.

This card is a 5.5 square card.  The card base is DCWV, the rest of the paper is from the Mistletoe paper pack from CTMH, as well as the poinsietta embellishment.  I love this quilt block pattern.  I think I will make some more of these for my personal Christmas cards this year. :)

These next two cards are Thank You cards made with the Bliss paper pack from CTMH.  The flowers are Prima.  The cards have the same pattern, just rotated...however, the 2nd card should have the scallop on the bottom, but I wasn't paying attention and realized after I glued all the paper down that the fold of the card was on the wrong side!!  Oops!  I still think it's OK.



We Are So Blessed...

I continue to be surprised (although I know I shouldn't be) at all the amazing things God is doing in our family.  I KNOW that He will not give us more than we can handle.  Since my dad's passing, although we are saddened, grieving, and feeling empty...God is providing for us on different levels every day. 

It is a blessing to me to see the outpouring of love from the many he ministered to during his life of service to the Lord. 

It is a blessing to me that people near and far, those who are close to our family and those who don't know us too well, have reached out to us to give support in various ways. 

It is a blessing to me that although we had doubts in the past about how mom would be taken care of should dad die first, his phrase "trust your father" has never been more true.  I often wonder now if that phrase had two meanings...I see now what he meant.

It is a blessing to me that my mom has been able to stay strong, in the moment and that she understands she can rely on her children to help carry her and help navigate all the new normals we all face. 

It is a blessing to me that we can talk about my dad with laughter and happy memories, not just dwell on our sadness.

It is a blessing that through his passing, doors for conversations with the young ones in our family have been opened.  I think it's important for the small ones to see how we grieve and to be able to share their grief in their own way.

Camp 2010 - Saba, Tyler, Branden & Gracellyn



It is a blessing to me that I had the dad I did...even if I didn't always show it when he was here on this Earth.

Morning my morning new mercies I see.  We are SO blessed.

Ready for some crafting time...

I have a 3-day weekend coming up and I am SO ready to spend some time in my craft room.  Other than the items I made for my niece's birthday party, I haven't done anything creative in over a month.  Of course, there has been so much going on, but generally I feel like crafting is very therapuetic, so it's time to get back into the groove. 

On the agenda...completing some workshops, making some birthday cards, taking pics of my creations to get posted online  and nailing down some ideas for card kits.  I'm also hoping to get some things moved around in my living room so I can spend some time in the evenings scanning family photos.  I think I will need a lot of Mt. Dew to get all that stuff accomplished!

Pictures to come!!!

Birthdays...

I stopped getting REALLY excited about my birthday several years ago...and this one is no exception.  Turning 34 is pretty uneventful, and experiencing my first birthday without my dad is tough.  What's really strange about this birthday is that my dad bought me a birthday gift several weeks before he died...which is not the norm.  Those of you who are friends on Facebook probably see me often post about how ready I am for the weekend...so my dad's last gift to me was a mug he found on his travels that says "Is it Friday yet?"  How appropriate.

So Raw...

My dad passed away suddenly on April 22, 2011.  I don't think anyone is ever prepared to lose a parent, but with no warning, he was gone and I have so much left I needed to say to him.   So much I just assumed I would have more time to do with him.  I grieve those lost moments.

There really are no words to describe the wave of emotions I've been on for the past 2 and a half weeks, but the exhaustion and the stress of it all is catching up with me.  I don't think I'm ready to blog about all the details just yet, but I do want to remind myself that my dad is in Heaven and I will see him again one day.  I also feel the need to remind myself that I am not alone and that God will carry me and my family through this. 

I have known for quite some time that there are things I need to stop ignoring and take action on in my life...there's nothing like losing a loved one to bring that to the forefront, I just really struggle with knowing how to fix all the things I feel have been so messed up.  So I guess my thoughts are also consumed by this need to change things.

If you are reading this and there are things left unsaid between you and your loved ones, don't wait.  You are never guaranteed your next breathe.